My shirt got stained, and I am beginning to contemplate whether I truly needed to go this far to evade the man Austin determines to kill. Seeing the look in his eye, I know there is little I can do about it, I know. But still, this...I… “Drop the weapon, you damn criminal fiend!” My heart flies into my throat and my head whips over to the owner of the voice, it's the man. The very one Austin is so determined to kill, “How are you still able to move?” Could he be a meta as well? Is that why he can move? Is that why Austin wants him dead so bad? My once calm heart begins to race again as I am presented with a threat. The man has a weapon as well and he’s carelessly swinging it in my face. “Drop the gun now or I swear to god!” he screams, the look in his eye says it all, he’s as scared as I am, I’ve seen that look before, I know exactly what he’s thinking. He thinks I’m a genuine threat to his life, he thinks I’m not just a kid. Staring down at my crimson covered self I understand why this would be the case for anyone who must have been observing me shoot people in the knee. And yet it sparks a tangible feeling of fright, fright of course at the unhinged man that stands unaffected by my powers. But also, also fright at myself. “Agrhhh!!” “Ahhh!!” “What the fuck! Helpp! Someone help!” I don’t know when but my control over my little bubble of frozen time slips up and now there’s chaos. Each one of my victims begins screaming out in agony. They find themselves crashing to the ground, their legs and arms rendered useless. Many have already fallen unconscious. However, in my distraction I forget for a second that there is an armed man before me. Bang! My lungs flood with air as I take in, quick, violent and thirsty gasps of air. Finding myself on the floor with a world of pain torrenting my left side. “Vern!” The voice I hear next is Austin's. Screaming out in a bloody rage, he starts shooting, executing the poorly organized policemen. They are like sitting ducks, easy pickings as they tried to attend to their fallen teammates. Gulping, I try to get up, fighting against the splitting, aching pain of a bullet stuck in my chest. Barely succeeding I find myself staring up at the shocked policeman. His hand limply holding onto the weapon he shot me with. “I...I...Did-” “Get away from Vern you fucking-!” The sentence is left incomplete a balled up fist slams into the man's face. Actions speaking louder than words surely. My saviour surprises me a bit, it’s none other than Rex, the man himself. He has a firm grip on his gun, he pulls back the hammer and points at the dazed policeman. “Fuck. You.” Bang! His shot misses entirely, but that much is understandable; his hand is rattling even more than a maracas. The missed shot costs him. A group of officers charge at him, two tackling him to the ground and the others taking care of their injured captain. “Retreaaattt!!” The captain screams out even as his officers drag him away. I pull out my gun and point at the two that are busy tussling with Rex and fire indiscriminately. Bang! Bang! Bang! At least two of my shots hit the intended targets. They reel off of Rex and stumble back, retreating as they’re ordered to. Austin’s mad spray of his shotgun receives some callback as the officers, although retreating with what wounded they can take, fire back at him. With such little cover for him to hide behind, that being the van and the lumpy piles of snow, I fear the worst will happen. Pause. For the first time ever, time refuses to heed my call. Not one to give up I yell out, “Pause!” And as I wish it to be, the world around me screeches into place. I stumble to my feet and look about me, the feeling of holding time in place pounds in the back of my head and my nose bleeds. Rather than let go I hold on even tighter, reasserting my grip on my little bubble of frozen time and take out my gun. Ready, I take shaky aim at all the active officers. Fortunately for me, I’d incapacitated the majority earlier and now all that remian are four angry, scared and even crying officers. I try to steady my aim with my other hand, “Arrghh!” Time nearly slips away from me as I yowl out in pain. Achieving a steady aim proves to be impossible. The limb refuses to move into place without causing me striking pain and the pounding in my head only gets worse as each second passes. “Fuck it.” Holding onto my injured arm I run up close to my latest victims and fire straight into their knees, more out of habit than out of choice, a realization that makes me gag at myself. Shooting people in the knee...a habit? I only make two of them before the world starts spinning and I find myself on the ground again, time resumes and new screaming ensues. I’m not bothered by it, rather the high-pitched ringing and the faded voices of everyone else is what concerns me. Rex spills his way over me, shouting out my name and calling for Austin. I hear the captain yell out another order from the hovercraft carrying him away, “Leave it all, go! Go! Move damn it!” “Vern! Vern!” I’m slapped violently in the face by Austin. When did he get here? I wonder to myself. “You’re going to be just fine, stay with us, stay awake!” Awake? I’m going to disappoint you then. “Sorry, Austin.” A tortured look befalls him at my words and I don’t have the luxury to console him any further.